January
Jonas Blane sat in Colonel Ryan's office listening to the Senator ramble on about the latest proposal, paying attention to every other word and jotting random notes down in his portfolio. Ryan seemed interested but who knew if he would approve the plan, even if it did come from the President himself. Of course, since it did come from the President, it didn't matter if Ryan approved it or not. It would be implemented, at least for a test run.
But the Senator still insisted on coming down and showing off his pet project of the year. After all, it was an election year.
Charles Grey and Hector Williams walked out of the locker room after a full day of training and bickered back and forth about their plans for the evening.
"Let's go to Brewster's, it's Friday night, we'll find some hot chicks man, what you say?" Charlie pestered Hector. Hector shook his head slowly as they walked down the corridor, "you never give up, do you? What happened with that receptionist from last week?" Charlie's grin widened, but never reached his eyes, "oh, she was great, we had fun. But that was last week." He winked at his buddy as they turned the corner and stopped outside room 27B noticing several corporals moving furniture and installing wiring.
"What do you think is going on here?" Charlie asked in a low voice.
"I don't know, but this morning this was a storage room, wasn't it?"
"Yep. Wonder if Top knows, here he comes." Charlie motioned as Hector looked up and they both noticed Blane trailing a step behind the Colonel, the Senator from Georgia, and a handful of aides.
"Senator, I assure you my staff is fully capable without any interference from Homeland Security. We have functioned as a solitary unit since inception and while I appreciate you coming down here to see me personally, I still don't think we have a need to supplement our Intelligence Division or add additional manpower to MY unit." Colonel Ryan forcefully intoned as the men reached the end of the corridor.
The Senator responded just as forcefully, "Colonel, I appreciate your honesty and candor but please remember this directive is not coming from me, it's coming from the office of the President of the United States. You report directly to the office, and the man in the office has decided to implement this program, at least temporarily, and there's nothing you can do to prevent it." The Senator lowered his voice in a semi friendly gesture as his cell phone started to ring, "Really, Tom, don't stress over this, you may find out just how much your unit can benefit from this new team." He walked off answering his phone while beckoning for his aides to follow him out to the car.
Williams looked up at his commanding officer, "what was that about, Sir?"
Colonel Ryan took a deep breath and shook his head slightly, walking off without answering the younger man.
Jonas motioned for Charlie and Hector to follow him into the break room and all three men sat down with a cold beer, ready to end the work day.
"The President is trying to convince the Colonel that he needs some hotshot computer hacker, on loan from Homeland Security, for a few months. The Senator's on the appropriations committee and the President asked him to be the go between for us and HS about a team of intelligence analysts." He paused momentarily to take a few swigs from his bottle.
Jonas continued "Supposedly, the President and the Director of Homeland Security already worked out the nitty gritty details. And then, came to Ryan. You can guess how well that went over."
"Bet he loved being the last to know." Charlie cracked.
Jonas smiled, "Right. The President just signed the Executive Order, and room 27B will have new tenants within the month."
The three men sat quietly for a few minutes, each lost in his own thoughts.
"Well," Hector said, "let's look on the bright side, maybe they play a mean game of pool."
On that note, the men laughed, and tossed their empty bottles into the recycling bin, as they walked out of the room.
"Where you boys off to this fine winter evening?" Jonas asked, walking out into the chilly air, leading the way to the parking lot.
Hector gestured towards Charlie as he answered, "He's dragging me out to seedy bars again, trying to find Ms. Right. Care to join us?"
"No, I'll have to pass on that delightful offer, thanks. Molly's been after me to take down the Christmas lights. Have a good 'un gentlemen.' Jonas walked off in the other direction listening to Charlie and Hector banter back and forth as they got into Charlie's car.
"Not Ms. Right, more like Ms. One Night."
"You are crazy, you know that? When are you going find a nice girl?"
"Oh, I find the nice girls, but when I'm through with them, they ain't so nice any more."
The car sped past Jonas with a quick beep as he reached his truck and raised a hand to his friends and colleagues as he got behind the wheel and went home to Molly, ever thankful his single days were behind him.